PRESS ROOM > Press Story > Daily Press, March 30, 2009

Students ask School Board to restore funds for youth leadership non-profit

By Samieh Shalash | 247-4537

March 30, 2009

HAMPTON — A stream of earnest high schoolers approached the Hampton School Board this week with one message: Don't cut funding for Alternatives, a youth empowerment nonprofit.

The district initially chopped its contribution from $75,000 to $18,750 for 2009-10. It bumped it to $37,500 using stimulus money added to its proposed $201.8 million budget.

Alternatives works at each high school to provide a four-credit leadership class and facilitate student advisory groups that work with principals and the superintendent.

This year, the nonprofit has written grants that quadrupled $75,000 into $390,000 for student programs, said Hank Lewis, a member of the board of directors.

Reduced support from the district will mean a cut in the services it provides to teenagers, said Executive Director Kathy Johnson. And, she said, it hinders proving the program is a strong partner with the school system when writing grants.

"I would hate to see the School Board not destroy, but certainly limit something that makes the city of Hampton so unique and so ahead of the rest of the country," Kecoughtan Senior Brooklyn Hildebrandt told the board.

Her plea capped that of five students and two members of Alternative's board of directors who made a plea to restore funding.

Kecoughtan Senior Katie Johnson said her involvement with Alternatives initiatives for the past seven years makes her want to come back to Hampton in the future to promote change.

"If we lose Alternatives, we may become a burden for already busy members of our school staff," she said.

Staff from the nonprofit train students in peer mediation, a sexual violence prevention curriculum and leadership opportunities.

Johnson, who was not at the meeting, said the organization has partnered with the district for about 15 years. It has a $1.1 million budget this year that comes from city, state and federal grants as well as donations and fundraisers.

Tough economic times are hitting the nonprofit hard, Johnson said, with the United Way cutting support by 12 percent, and the school district by 50 percent.

"When the money goes away, it seems like the agenda can go away," said Linda Hansen, Alternative's director.

"We believe so wholeheartedly in the agenda of young people having a voice and a say in what goes on in schools."

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